Rbodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND. BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 7 March, 1905 No. 75 
ON BALLS OF VEGETABLE MATTER FROM 
SANDY SHORES. 
W. F. GANONG. 
Ir happened some two or three years ago that I received at about 
the same time from two different sources inquiries as to the mode of 
formation of certain balls of vegetable matter found on the sandy 
bottoms of shallow ponds. Having myself no knowledge of the 
subject I sought for some description of them in the accessible litera- 
ture, but without result. Nor did inquiries addressed to those of my 
colleagues likely to be versed in such matters elicit any substantial 
information. Following the subject further, however, I did obtain 
some facts about them, and, since other interests are not likely to 
allow me to investigate their mode of formation for myself, I desire 
to place these facts on record for the benefit of others who may 
wish to make use of them. 
The earliest, and at the same time almost the only, published refer- 
ence to the balls known to me occurs in Thoreau’s well-known book, 
Walden, the first edition of which appeared in 1854. In the Chap- 
ter on Ponds, in a description of Flint’s or Sandy Pond in Lincoln, 
Mass., he writes : — 
There also I have found, in considerable quantities, curious balls, 
composed apparently of fine grass or roots, of pipewort perhaps, from 
half an inch to four inches in diameter, and perfectly spherical. 
These wash back and forth in shallow water on a sandy bottom, 
and are sometimes cast on the shore. They are either solid grass, 
or have a little sand in the middle. At first you would say that 
they were formed by the action of the waves, like a pebble; yet the 
smallest are made of equally coarse materials, half an inch long, and 
they are produced only at one season of the year. Moreover, the 
